Prepare for a backlash against nuclear power

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While Japan looks to rebuild physically, economically and politically, the world anxiously watches Fukushima

It is no coincidence that the internationally accepted word for a wave caused by an earthquake is the Japanese tsunami, formed from the characters for “harbour” and “wave”, nor that even the old, historic temples that you might have visited there as a tourist have been rebuilt many times over the centuries. Japan is used to natural disasters, and especially to earthquakes. But that doesn’t make them any less horrific when they happen — especially when nuclear power plants are also involved.

In many such disasters, the initial estimates of casualties prove too high, as it is so hard to keep